One of the Major Causes of Obesity Essay

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1001-04
27 November 2016

One of the Major Causes of Obesity

Mark Bittman’s article “Coke Blinks” discusses how the famous soda company, Coca-Cola, recently released a video where it addresses the growing problem in our nation of obesity. In the video Coca-Cola attempts to claim that it is not their fault people are obese; it’s the consumers fault because the company offers low calorie beverages and now has smaller proportioned drinks. They are basically saying that every calorie counts and not just the ones in their products. Bittman describes this video as, “Sheer manipulation, calculated to confuse, obscure and deny.” Bittman beliefs sugar, “Especially in liquid form” is extremely harmful and not just because it leads to obesity. He thinks Coca-Cola is more focused on making money than it is trying to help the nation deal with obesity.

He goes on to compare soda to nicotine saying, “Soda is a fructose delivery system as tobacco is a nicotine delivery system.” He is stating that Coca-Cola is doing the same thing tobacco companies once did, ignore the fact that their product was extremely harmful and they didn’t want the consumers to know because it would lead to a loss in product sales. This article focuses on the negative effects that sugar based beverages have on the body. Bittman states, “There is virtual consensus that drinking too much soda is bad for you, and it’s not hard to understand the evidence.” In the end Coca-Cola is simply trying to lessen its bad reputation for causing health problems such as diabetes and chubbiness by releasing a video which talks about obesity. Bittman is implicating the irony in Coca-Cola’s video and he simply trying to warm people not to drink soda because it’s not healthy.